Andrea Lavin Week 3 Personal Example

This weeks readings discussed various organization structures, organization design alternatives, and many examples of these structures in action.   The readings explained how different structures evolve, breakdown, and demonstrated how the systems work in practice.  Several times while reading Fundamentals of Organizational Structure, I was able to identify the different types of organization structures and strategies I had experienced.  The reading helped me to see the various ways I had actually functioned within the system.

My first jobs were in retail, women's shoes to be exact.  I'm sorry to report the stores that gave me my first paychecks are not in existence any more.  Patrini Shoe’s (bought by Payless Shoe Source), The Broadway (now Macy's, bought by Federated department stores) and Nine and Co. (Nine West Shoes) were my fist employers.  These were the stores I worked in during the 90s when I was a teenager.  I was paid a very modest wage, about $2 above minimum wage at the time.  I worked as a sales clerk.  In that position, I had no option for creativity while preforming my job tasks, as they were outlined for me in detail.  I was given my duties directly and was expected to execute them as instructed.  I was told when and how I should do them, the amount of time they should take, what I should wear, what I should say, everything down to the time of my break, was handed to me.  I had one supervisor, except at The Broadway/Macy's which had a traditional management hierarchy, so there was more supervision there.  

 At these jobs, all company decisions were handed down from a corporate entity that felt very far off.  My teenage brain remembers corporate being something like Oz, from the Wizard of Oz.   It was clear that even the in-store managers and supervisors had little say in regards to the functions of the store, our job duties and the tasks of the employees.  These supervisors were there to enforce the pre set rules of the company,  report earnings via bank deposits, and other forms of data entry.  These companies were Vertical Organizations, designed for efficiency.  Fundamentals of Organizational Structure, states, “vertical structure is dominant when there are specialized tasks, strict hierarchy with many rules, vertical communication and reporting systems, few teams, task forces or integrators, and centralized decision making.” (p.93)   The companies were also bureaucratic, manged from the top down, and gave their employees very little power. 

In the article, Sociological Ambivalence of Bureaucracy: From Weber via Goulder to Marx, Adler makes many compelling arguments regarding the recurrent pattern of ambivalent employees in various systems of bureaucracy.  He explained that Marx was concerned about class conflict and viewed bureaucracy as a coercive weapon for exploitation.  (p. 246)  At the time of my employment for these vertical structure bureaucratic companies, I would say I was content at work because I was surrounded by the latest fashions and worked with several other fashionistas my age.  However, after reading Adler’s article and reading some of the examples of ambivalent employees, I would have to say I was definitely an ambivalent worker.  My co-workers and I would do our best to extend our breaks regularly and when we finished tasks earlier than expected we didn’t try to accomplish more.  We didn't love our jobs and mostly saw work as a necessary evil.  These retailers weren’t exactly Weber’s “iron cage” (p.247), but they certainly didn’t inspire either. 

In college I worked at Nordstrom department store for several years in the cosmetic department.  Nordstrom was nothing like my other employers.  As a company, they offered  various employee trainings, both through Nordstrom and the brand I was representing.  They allowed each counter in the cosmetic department to run like it was its own company.  We could plan events, hosts guest make-up artists, and arrange our displays as required by the brand we represented and the location of the counter within the department.  We were valued sales people who were given generous incentives and commission.  In the cosmetics department, we all helped each other and even floated to other departments after closing to help fold or tidy the store.  All managers, were involved in the clean up, even the store manager.  There were artistry teams, event planning teams, and internal incentive teams which helped raise morale in the store and in the department.  Looking back, Nordstrom made us feel very empowered and connected to the business.   

In Fundamentals of Organizational Structure, the reading gives a brief description of Thomas Malone’s book The future of Work.  In his book, Malone identifies various decentralized management structures, one of them being that managers will  change from “command-and-control” to “coordinate-and-cultivate”.  (p. 92).  This exactly describes the change I experienced from my previous employer The Broadway/Macy’s to Nordstrom.  Macy's was run like a dictatorship, where there was little skill required, employees were easily replaced and there were many rules to follow.  Although Nordstrom had a traditional structure of supervisors, managers and directors, the hierarchy was relaxed and creativity and innovation was encouraged.  Nordstrom is an example of a Horizontal Organization, designed for learning, described in Fundamentals of Organizational Structure, as “shared tasks, empowerment, relaxed hierarchy, few rules, face-to-face communication, many teams and task forces, and decentralized decision making.” (p. 93)  They definitely used a "coordinate-and-cultivate" approach with the employees.

After college, I started my marketing career.  I worked for an acute rehab hospital and a skilled nursing facility.  These jobs required statistical analysis, monthly reports and weekly written information.  Everything was computer and blackberry based.  In this capacity these jobs used a vertical information strategy. (p.94) However, because my job related to patient admissions, I worked closely with other departments such as nursing, IT, discharge planning, and admissions.  In this capacity these companies also used a horizontal linkage, because there was significant communication and coordination between multiple departments. (p. 95)  My role as a community business development representative was actually one that required me to be the direct contact between my company and a myriad of other businesses, outside doctors, hospitals, and organizations that were involved with my company.  This is a higher level of horizontal linkage, the liaison role. (p. 96)   Task forces were often used within these companies as well.  They would come together during audits, state board visits, and during times of organizational changes.  Both companies also had a full-time integrator who was the marketing brand manager. (p.96) Her role was to train us and ensure we were delivering a consistent message in line with the company branding efforts. 

After reading about W.L. Gore's unique Lattice Organization, the ideas of Weber and Marx regarding employee ambivalence, and Fundamentals of Organizational Structure, I am more convinced that happy workers are productive workers and modern companies will have to develop strategies that encourage, cultivate and inspire employees.  If they do not, the companies who focus on employee fulfillment with be rewarded with the most desirable workers and higher productivity, which translate to higher profits.  The various examples used in this weeks reading showed that there are many emerging systems and hybrid structures that support both employee autonomy and satisfaction and while supporting company missions.  

Bibliography 

Adler, P. (2012). the Sociological Ambivalence of Bureaucracy: From Weber via Gouldner to Marx. Organizational Science, 23(1). (pp. 244-266). 

Daft, R. (2007). Fundamentals of Organizational Structure. Organization Theory and Design 9th Edition. (pp. 88-125).